SEND Toolkit and documents

On this page, you will find a range of useful documents and referral forms that you can use when supporting children and young people aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).

SEND Toolkit

The SEND Tookit explains the responsibilities on early years providers, schools and post 16 providers for meeting the special educational needs of children and young people. The toolkit also includes guidance on many of the SEND processes that educational providers must follow.

SEND and Inclusion Course Directory 2017/18

Children and Young People’s SEND Promise for County Durham

Find out about the SEND Promise for County Durham - a children and young people's charter for SEND covering education, health, activities, employment and more.

Quality first teaching documents

Pupil profiles

As part of quality first teaching (QFT), information about individual pupil's needs should be shared with relevant staff (following a school's confidentiality policy). These documents are templates which can be adapted by settings.

Short Note

Early identification is the key to supporting a pupil's needs. A 'short note' of early discussions with parents/carers should be added to the pupil's record, monitored on a regular basis in partnership with parents/carers. These templates can be adapted by settings.

My Story

My Story will help a child and their parents/carers to record background information, so that you do not have to repeat this information to different professionals. My Story belongs to the child and ther parents/carers. They will decide who the information can be shared with.

My Story templates can be adapted to suit the individual needs of the child/young person. When printing, double sided settings should be set at 'flip on short edge'.

SEN support plan

The SEN support plan is recommended for pupils with more complex needs. The plan should be produced by the setting in partnership with the child/young person and their parents/carers. It will include the joint outcomes that pupils want to achieve and the supported needed to meet these goals. The templates can be adapted by schools. The short support plan is particularly effective when used with a pupil profile.

Advice templates

These templates show the type of information that is required detailing what professionals know about a child/young person. The advice provided should be used by the setting when requesting an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC) assessment, and/or reviewing an existing EHC plan. Settings submitting a request for Top Up funding should complete the new Educational Advice template.

This form will be completed by the education provider following the review meeting. All advice considered at the review meeting, and any amendments to the Statement of SEN or EHC Plan must be attached. The form must be submitted within two weeks of the date of the review meeting. The guidance below is additional to the information in the SEND Toolkit.

Statutory Annual Reviews of a Statement of Educational Needs

This form will be completed by the education provider immediately following the Statutory Annual Review of a child or young person's Statement of SEN. it should not be used for those Statements that are being considered for transfer to EHC Plan during 2016-2018. The guidance below is additional to the information in the SEND Toolkit.

Request for Emergency or Assessment Placement

Supporting pupils with medical conditions

The guidance on our supporting pupils with medical conditions page aims to ensure that all children with medical conditions are properly supported in school so they can play a full and active role in school life, remain healthy and achieve their academic potential.

Related services

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